China, on behalf of a group of like-minded countries, called for a thorough investigation into the history of mutilation and abuse against indigenous children in some countries, and justice for indigenous groups at the 50th Session of the Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

Representing countries including Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Russia, Sierra Leone, Syria and Venezuela, China expressed deep concerns over serious human rights violations in some countries against indigenous people, especially indigenous children.

"Some countries have conducted mass killings of indigenous people in history. They forcibly took indigenous children away from their families and communities to the so-called "residential schools," where indigenous children were deprived of their identity and cultural recognition with bans on traditional costumes, language and culture, and many died of hunger, disease, corporal punishment or sexual violence," said China's joint statement on the violation of rights of indigenous children.

According to the statement released by China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva, the cruel treatment of these countries against indigenous people is an important root cause of their current prevailing systemic racism and racial discrimination, and the indigenous groups in these countries still face all kind of discrimination and inequality.

China urged the Human Rights Council and the UN's Human Right Office to pay continuous attention to the human rights violations against indigenous people in these countries and take necessary actions accordingly.